Marine mammals are amazing creatures - very curious & intelligent. I always loved doing docent duty at Sea Ranch watching over the protected Harbor Seals during their birthing season and experiencing a pup being born on the beach and how mom teaches immediately what the pup needs to do to survive. Marine and Land Iguanas of the Galapagos vary in color and behavior, but both are very territorial and colored according to their environment. My personal favorite is the humpback and orca whales. One of my favorite experiences was soft water swimming with humpback whales in the Dominican Republic in the Silver Bank. Being in the water next to a mammal that has an average weight of 20-35 tons defies words. See photo #46 just to give you a perspective of size. (That is my husband next to the humpback whale).

Another breath-taking experience is to witness the humpback whales bubble or net feeding. This is a unique technique employed by Humpback Whales, in which a group of whales swim in a shrinking circle blowing bubbles below a school of fish. This shrinking column of bubbles surrounds the school of fish forcing them upward. The whales spontaneously swim upward through the bubble net, mouths wide open, catching thousands of fish in one gulp. See photos #1-8. Note on #5, you can see the VERY small herring about to be swallowed by the HUGE humpback.

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